X13 Tunes (255 BC)

The Battle of Tunes: 255BC

Carthaginians vs Romans

Historical Background:“Contrary to Roman habit and good judgement, Regulus allowed Xanthippus to attack. This the Spartan did with a will, first projecting his own horse against the Roman. From the line of elephants, pushed forward at the same time, the Roman velites quickly retired, falling back through the intervals of the legion, which meanwhile advanced to counter the impending blow. The elephants on the Carthaginian right, in their forward movement, had edged to the center, and left a gap between their right and the Carthaginian cavalry. Through this the three legionary columns of the Roman left pushed their way and threw back the…mercenaries in confusion; but the other columns striking the line of elephants, made no headway, and with much wavering lost the crispness of their alignment. The Carthaginian horse, having by its superior numbers quickly dispersed the Roman cavalry, now fell upon the legions in the flank. The centre legionary columns fought their way through the elephants and stoutly attacked the phalanx, where all fell with faces to the front: but the Carthaginian cavalry prevented the others from following their lead. They were placed on the defensive: they formed a sort of square to protect themselves, but were surrounded and cut to pieces. Regulus and five hundred men were captured. Only the three legionary columns of the left escaped, some two thousand strong.”(The above was from T.A. Dodge’s 1891 masterwork Hannibal p.130)

War Council:

Roman ArmyLeader: Regulus4 Command Cards (one card is a line command the other three randomly chosen)The Players dice to see (with regular six sided dice) who moves first at game start-- high roller goes first-- if tied the Carthaginians Move First .

Scenario Special Rules:

Command Rules:A Leader attached (stacked with) a friendly unit may cancel one sword hit on the unit in lieu of canceling a retreat hit.Xanthippus may cancel both a sword and a retreat hit if stacked with a friendly unit.A unit involved in close combat with the support of a Leader may only count one helmet hit amongst those rolled to inflict a hit on an opposing unit.

OutflankingThis is an easy way of introducing facing and flanks to the game with little fuss—it can be retrofitted to other scenarios where appropriate:A unit is said to be “Outflanked” if it is surrounded in all six adjacent hexes by either enemy units, or hexes adjacent to an enemy unit. The presence of friendly units does not negate an “Outflanked” situation in any way. Units on the board edges (and not surrounded by six adjacent hexes) cannot be “Outflanked”.Effects of being Outflanked: “Outflanked” units when battling back roll only half the normal number of dice they would be normally entitled to rounded up—to a maximum of only two dice—“Outflanked” units when battling back never hit on helmet rolls even if supported by a leader. A unit’s “Outflanked” situation is judged at the instant it battles back.

Roman Cavalry:Both Roman Cavalry units start the game with only two blocks each and may not go to three blocks through use of the rally card. The normal dice they throw in close combat or battleback is 2 dice (as opposed to 3 dice per the regular rules).